Sermon by The Very Rev Chris Yaw, 3/2/2025
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Awaken me to myself and others
Brothers and sisters in Christ –
Just as James, John, and Peter experienced that moment of grace - of basking in the shining warmth of God's presence, I am happy to be here with you this morning - and bask in the holy glow of the saints of in light!
Your warmth, your care, your kindness, gladden my heart, and bring me hope and encouragement.
Yes, it's been a difficult week - for me and for you - full of challenges and trials - certainly joy, but also hardship - moments of laughter, yet also uncertainty and worry.
But the family of God is together this morning, 'shining on' the way you do. So please turn to your neighbor and say: thank you for your light! (You can do that on zoom as well!)
Yes, thank you for your light - for your warmth - for your faithful brightness - for we need this light - the holy light of God - as we face issues of great magnitude in our world.
Ours are times of growing injustice at the rise of authoritarianism, stinging self-interest and greed, and increasing uncertainty around the great and capricious powers of this age.
None of us are unaware of the physical, spiritual, and even existential threats that hover over the human family at this very hour.
And it is in the face of this unease and instability that we have come today - to turn to the only force in the universe that can offer us true solace, direction, and hope.
Today we have come to the holy mount - to meet our shining Savior - to harken under the wisdom and power that we know is found in Jesus - the redeemer and deliverer, needed now more than ever: his message of universal love and unity, his healing power of forgiveness and healing.
For we gather under a cloud of uncertainty to hear words from another cloud - as we consider St. Luke's Gospel and the epic story of the Transfiguration.
You know it well, Jesus, in the presence of his most trusted disciples, ascends the mountain.
There, in divine light, in conversation with Moses the lawgiver, and Elijah the prophet, his glory, as the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets, is revealed.
Yes, divine light. Not human light. Divine light. It's the same light that nearly blinded Moses, then his friends - so much so that a veil was needed to diffuse it.
Years ago my mother would say the fastest way to clean the kitchen, was to turn down the lights.
It's because of what light does.
It expose things.
It shows us detail and gives vivid description.
In the light, we see things, as they truly are.
And upon the Holy Mount we see Jesus for who he really is - God Almighty - the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We see the image, we hear the voice.
We have no earthly king.
We have only one king.
And this church understands that.
For you know that Christianity is being roiled by many forces this morning!
We are tempted by the entertainments and enticements of this world - the possessions and experiences that try to lure us to take detours and distract us to our real work - of tending to our broken but beautiful world!
And one of those detours and heinous distractions - is the scourge and stain of the insidious rise of Christian Nationalism.
It is a shadow creeping across the landscape of our faith, distorting the very essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Yes, you understand, dear brothers and sisters, that this particular take on the historic faith, Christian Nationalism, seeks to fuse the eternal cross with a temporal flag.
Christian Nationalism seeks to create an unholy alliance - as it whispers that God is on the side of a particular nation, a particular political ideology, a particular political party, a particular interpretation of scripture, while demonizing all others.
The other day I heard one of these false preachers say that a certain politician had been elevated by God to hold office, therefore, every word he speaks should be considered God's word.
This is as blasphemous as it is arrogant and ignorant.
For we know that God is not a politician of any party, a member of any nation, an advocate for any ethnicity!
God is not an American or any other nationality.
God is love. And that love, as revealed through Jesus Christ, transcends all earthly boundaries.
Because, when we confess Jesus' Lordship, we reject the false idol of Christian Nationalism.
And our rejection comes with a responsibility: to reclaim the true spirit of Christianity.
This is the spirit of love. Self-giving service. Unwavering compassion. And radical acceptance.
We don't build walls, we tear them down.
We don't sit down when oppressed, we stand up for justice, speaking truth to power with respect, honesty, and charity.
We seek to shine the light of Christ, who is exalted because he serves!
He tells the ambitious among us how to channel our energies:
You want to be great? Serve.
You want to achieve much? Help those with little.
You want to make your mark in this world? Help your neighbor next door.
There is nothing wrong with your ambitions!
They just need to be channeled in the right direction - toward the light of which our world is in desperate need!
Today's Christianity is caught up in a dark tempest of confusion –
Good people of faith are being spun around, up and down, and upside down - so that our ability to make clear, moral, statements has been compromised!
That is why we need the enlightenment of God, to give us the clarity and vision we sorely need:
Should the richest nation in the world stop helping the poorest nations in the world?
Should money for the necessities of the many, be re-routed to pay for luxuries for the few?
Should support for the marginalized and discriminated go, instead, to the majority and the well-off?
Preachers are not experts in economics.
Preachers are not experts in political science.
Preachers are trained to be a moral conscience - to raise the question: is it right?
And it's our job, as disciples, to do what Peter, James and John did on that holy mount: Remember the line:
"Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but they had stayed awake!"
Oh, how tempting it is to fall asleep today!
Roll over and get comfortable!
Turn our attentions away from life’s disorienting drama - to the abundance of entertainments and pleasantries of our lives!
But we sleep at our peril!
Had Peter and his companions given in to fatigue - they would have missed the very purpose for their journey:
to witness a divine encounter so powerful that they would have faith enough to endure the trials ahead.
Had Peter and his companions given in to the temptation to lay down and tune out - where would Christ have been in his road to Calvary?
Had Peter and his companions decided that following the true convictions of their hearts was a fool's errand, and decided to keep on sleeping, Christianity as we know it may never have come to pass.
But they did not remain asleep.
Neither must we.
For we sleep at our peril!
The most powerful nations of the world have the ability to destroy cities, states, and countries like never before.
We all know that the world’s powers have built up stockpiles of atomic weapons to completely annihilate the world many times over-
-and the need to replace selfish, siloed, and aggressive policies with mutual respect, cooperation, and mutual care one for another is essential to all of our futures.
We live together or we die alone:
The way of love is our only way forward.
While we gather today in mild celebration for 73 years of historic witness to the Southfield community and beyond, make no mistake, today is also a day of action.
Given the weight of human suffering, instability, and confusion, it can be no other.
For we are pressed to embrace the divine responsibilities of following our savior.
When Jesus descended from that Holy Mount of blessed friendship and nurturing fellowship - he gave Peter and his companions new inspiration to endure the hardships of gritty confrontation, to heal, feed, and refuse to back away from the injustices of his day.
When Jesus descended from that Holy Mount - he gave Peter and his companions a new and greater vision for the universal work ahead - returning to the valley of despair, to the hurting crowds, the hungry, the sick, and the suffering: Reminding us that true faith is not about escaping the world but transforming it!
When Jesus descended from that Holy Mount - he gave to Peter and the multitude of companions, both then and now - the message that the Transfiguration is not an end in itself!
It is a preparation for the work that lies ahead.
It is a reminder that the divine, mountaintop glory must be translated into acts of love and justice in the valley!
For we too must descend from our mountaintops of privilege,
from our mountaintops of comfort,
from our mountaintops of complacency!
We must descend into the valleys of poverty, of injustice, of oppression.
We must listen to the voice of Jesus who calls us to love our neighbors, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and liberate the oppressed.
For good people of St. David's, we know that the glory of God is not confined to these magnificent stained-glass windows - or these lofty heights of prayer:
It is found in the faces of the poor, in the cries of the marginalized, in the struggle for justice!
The Transfiguration is our call to action - to embody the love of God in the world - a call not to build tabernacles on mountaintops but bridges of hope in the valleys of despair.
Today you are invited to take a book for Lent and read it.
It's on habits - habit making and habit breaking - and I hope, that like me, you might find it useful as a touchstone for change - for that 'one thing' you'd like to change.
I hope you will join me in making a change to draw closer to that bright, shining, transforming light –
- to shake off the smugness and stasis that so stubbornly grips us –
- and to move boldly and intentionally to hear the cries of the bullied and the beaten, the voice of the transgender, and the whimpers of the hungry, homeless, and oppressed.
Love for ALL of God's children in the Valley Despondency and Dejection is ours to give;
sacrifice for the suffering is ours to lend;
forgiveness and hope for the aggressor and enemy is ours to extend.
Let us, therefore, persevere.
Let us heed those holy words,
Having seen the cloud and heard the voice –
As we join in the blessed work of building that beloved community of God, once above, now closer to earth,
As we persevere, arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder, marching on toward that blessed light.
Amen.